Are any of you hooked on that new show, Once Upon A Time? I admit I saw the trailers, but had no intention of actually watching. And, even though I have yet to randomly come across the hype (once I searched, I found a lot!) I decided to watch the first episode through On Demand. Okay, I’m a total sucker and I was in like Flynn from the very beginning. The basis of the story is that Storybrooke, a modern day town is actually inhabited by all the storybook characters we grew up with. However, they are unaware of who they really are due to a curse enacted by who else, but the Evil Queen. The plan now is to undo the curse by somehow getting all these people to realize who they are and to get their “happily ever after” back. It’s a cute idea, but done in a very gothic, Grimm’s fairytale kind of way. I think that’s the appeal. Oh, that, and the fact that the writers of Lost are involved. We all know those chumps can keep a half-cocked story line going for YEARS! I swear if this ends up being one of those type of shows I will lose my mind!

But, back to the reason for this post. I am only 2.5 episodes in and have really enjoyed the sideline to the story game of figuring out who each modern day character was in fairytale land. But the real fun has been in discovering the subtle and not so subtle nods to every character’s storybook past by way of their interiors. After a ton of searching I only found a couple of articles about Mark Lane, the set designer who created this whimsical land. I can’t wait until ABC lets out more then just cast photos for us to peep. Here is one of the photos I found from an article about the set designer, Mark Lane.

The rest of these photos were pulled from video off of ABC.com. In the shot above we see sections of the set for the Evil Queen/Major’s home. Below, I captured a couple from the episode, which gives a better feel for the overall space as a “home”.

I love how everything is black and white with shades of gray. Very dramatic and then the pop of the red apples plays well with the rest of the muted tones.

I am in love with the birch forest wallpaper and wish I had a place for it in my own home. I was thinking fabric for curtains like that would be nice because you could switch them out if you got tired of the busy pattern. All said, I would certainly feel cozy in this living room.

Next up is Emma Swan’s rented room in Granny’s diner/hotel. It is very sweet with cottage accents in pale green and pinks.

The same pink and green cottage feel shows up in the fireplace vignette downstairs in Granny’s Diner.

Another angle of the diner shows more forest wallpaper in muted tones. I love how every space seems to have pops of almost Technicolor among the hush of monotones.

This was the item that first caught my eye and made me want to investigate the story of the interiors further. The seats of Granny’s diner have a basket weave design. So, quaint!

One space that may be a little less obvious (at lease so far) is Mr. Hopper’s office, but it still has several references to the storybook past of Mr. Jiminy Cricket. Of course there is the forest scene in the wallpaper border along the ceiling and the wall colors definitely remind me of his outfit from past cartoons and illustrations.

I have a feeling more will be revealed in his office as time goes on, but one really obvious reference is the shadow box of pipes on his wall. Again, how quaint and fun!

This last image is of Snow White’s home and I’m not really sure what to make of it. The third episode is revealing a darker, more vulnerable side to her, so maybe the worn and crumbling textures of her space reference that. I had thought all the brickwork may liken to her time in the castle, but it’s more industrial looking, so I am not sure what feel they are going for with this one. Then there is all the cottage style furniture. Even though I am unsure of what direction they mean to go with Snow’s home, I still see some pretty cool décor in there, like those cool rubbed down columns. And, who doesn’t love some exposed brick?

I can’t wait to see how this show plays out and I pray it does not turn into the fiasco of Lost. Although, I think more of my interest will be in studying the spaces all these characters inhabit.

What do you guys think? Are these rooms with themes to cutesy for you, or just enough to help your mind drift off to fantastical places?